AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



801 



PAN 



Panicle. A compound raceme. 



Pa'nicum. Panic Grass. From panicula, a 

 panicle ; form of flowering. Nat. Ord. Gram- 

 inaceoR. 



An extensive genus of grass<^s, mostly used 

 as fodder plants. P. Germanicum is the well- 

 known Hungarian Grass. P. pUcatum niveo- 

 vittatum is a beautiful species for green-house 

 culture, suitable for baskets and vases. It is 

 propagated freely by division, and Avill grow 

 in almost any position given it. The elegant 

 drooping variegated grass, known in cultiva- 

 tion as P. variegatum, is, according to modern 

 botanists, now named Oplismenus Burmanni 

 variegatus, which see. The common Crab 

 Grass, P. sanguinale, an annual species intro- 

 duced from Europe and now thoroughly 

 naturalized, though spoken of as a good 

 pasture grass in Tennessee and Mississippi, 

 etc., is a great pest when it gets foot-hold on a 

 lawn or grass plot, as it bends before the 

 mowuig machine, and, of course, when 

 allowed to seed, spreads more and more 

 every year. Probably the best plan to get 

 rid of it is to loosen it up with a shai'p rake 

 before it ripens its seed, and use the scythe for 

 a few times, cutting both ways so as to cut all 

 the seeding stems, and in fall giving each 

 spot a good scarifying with a rake, sowing it 

 over with lawn grass seed mixed with white 

 clovei-, and finishing with a liberal dressing 

 of a good lawn enricher. A year or two of 

 this treatment will eradicate the pest. 



Pa'nsy. Viola tricolor. The almost innumerable 

 varieties of Pansies, embracing every color, 

 from white to black, maroon, yellow, purple, 

 blue, self-colored, and those with the most 

 delicate markings, as well as the bold and 

 showy faces of others, are all hybrids between 

 the annual species, V. tricolor, a w^eed in 

 English fields and gardens, and the perennial 

 kinds, V. Altaica, from Tartary, V. grandiflora, 

 a native of Switzerland, V. lutea, of Great 

 Britain, V. Rothomagensis, of France, and V. 

 pedata var. bicolor, of this country. The first 

 attention paid to the cultivation of the Pansy, 

 and that which resulted in making it a florist's 

 flower, was given by Mary Bennet, who had a 

 little flower-garden in the grounds of her 

 father, the Earl of Tankerville, at Walton-upon- 

 Thames, England. She had prepared a little 

 bed, in which were placed all the varieties of 

 Pansies which she accidentally discovered in 

 her father's garden. Aided by the industry 

 and zeal of the gardener, Mr. Richardson, 

 several new varieties were raised from seed 

 and transplanted to this little bed. From 

 this small beginning in 1810 may be traced 

 the rage which has since prevailed in the 

 cultivation of this popular flow-er. The 

 English, French, and German horticultural 

 societies offered great inducements to the 

 florist, in the way of premiums, for the best 

 flowers, and as the race was free to all, the 

 intei-est awakened was of a most lively 

 chai-acter, one which every gardener of 

 importance helped to keep alive. The result 

 has been, the Pansy of to-day in contrast with 

 the little V. pedata and V. tricolor, the parents, 

 so common in our woods and roadsides. Our 

 seedsmen and florists have been so much 

 absorbed in watching the race for supremacy 

 in the production of seed of this flower, that 

 that they did not stop to consider whether 



PAP 



we could compete, and were only anxious to 

 know which country had merited the honor, 

 in order to send to her for our supply. 

 Our success In other things encouraged 

 us to try this, and the first trial was 

 sufficient to assure us what we have since 

 proven, viz., that the very best Pansies 

 grown in this country Were from seed of 

 our own growing. Pansies require to be 

 grown in a rich, moist loam, and protected as 

 far as possible, from the midday sun, and 

 from winds, and during the warmer summer 

 weather should not be allowed to get drj'. In 

 England special varieties of Pansies are grown 

 from cuttings for many years by name. In 

 the climate of the United States this plan is 

 hardly practicable, even if desirable, as the 

 ravages of the Red Spider during the summer 

 months on this plant virtually destroy it, and 

 cause it always to be treated as a plant 

 never to be carried over the second season 

 after flowering. For this reason it is here 

 raised only from seed. This is usually flrst 

 sown in August, which gives plants large 

 enough to be pricked away in cold frames 

 during winter. Such plants give a profuse 

 and continuous bloom from March to June, or, 

 if sown earlier than August — say July 1st — 

 they will bloom from October throughout the 

 entire winter and spring months, if grown in 

 a temperature averaging 45° at night. For 

 succession, for late spring and summer 

 flowering, we find the best date to sow is the 

 first week in January, and if carefully handled, 

 by growing in a low temperature (average 

 not to exceed 50" at night), they will begin to 

 flower in April, and will continue to flower 

 longer than those sown in August, which 

 get exhausted by June, while the Januaiy 

 crop flowers right through the hottest summer 

 months. A number of years ago a fine collec- 

 tion of Double Pansies originated with us, 

 but we failed to perpetuate them successfully 

 by cuttings, and they were ultimately lost; 

 but they had no merit except novelty, as they 

 were far inferior in beauty to the single 

 kinds. 



Papaver. From papa, pap, or thick milk ; the 

 juice of the poppy was formerly used in chil- 

 dren's food to make them sleep. Nat. Ord. 

 PapaveracecB. 



An extensive genus of hardy, or half-hardy 

 annual or perennial herbs, with a milky juice, 

 widely distributed through Europe, Asia and 

 Africa; one species is found in Australia. 

 The flowers are red, violet, white or yellow, 

 and are very showy and transient, many 

 dropping the day they expand. Many exceed- 

 ingly showy annual varieties are now in 

 cultivation, and come true from seed, which 

 only requires to be sown where desired, as 

 early in the season as practicable. P. orientale, 

 one of the showiest of hardy perennials intro- 

 duced from Armenia in 1714, has large thistle- 

 like leaves about a foot long, clothed with 

 white bristly hairs. Its deep scarlet flowers, 

 more than six inches in diameter, have a dark 

 purple spot at the base of each petal. Its 

 variety, P. O. bracteatum, is much superior in 

 size and attractiveness. This variety forms 

 huge masses of handsome foliage, tiie flowers 

 are carried on stiff stalks, with leafy bracts 

 at intervals, and one well-developed bract 

 under each flower, which is six to nine inches 



